THE Northern Irishman banished the so-called called Freaky Friday curse that has seen him follow up impressive opening rounds with a shocker.

Rory McIlroy smiles after chipping onto the 10th green during his second round at Royal Liverpool

RORY McILROY towered above The Open field last night – just hours after his former fiancee had poked fun at him for being too short.

As Tiger Woods scraped through the cut by the skin of his teeth after a shocking second-round collapse, McIlroy went from strength to strength to take the tournament by the scruff of the neck.

A second successive 66 rocketed the Northern Irishman into a four-shot lead over America’s Dustin Johnson – and banished the so-called Freaky Friday curse that has seen him follow up impressive opening rounds with a shocker.

But while the crowds at Hoylake watched in awe at McIlroy’s dominant display, his dumped ex Caroline Wozniacki took a veiled swipe at him on social media site Instagram.

Posting a picture of herself on a day out with a friend, the tennis star wrote: “Out and about in Istanbul. It’s been three years since I have worn heels on a normal day out.”

Wozniacki is approximately an inch taller than McIlroy and, as the pair were together for three years before he broke off their engagement in May, that was a clear dig at the 25-year-old’s stature.

But McIlroy didn’t seem too bothered as he romped around the Royal Liverpool course, firing seven birdies and dropping just one shot as he moved to 12 under.

While McIlroy didn’t discuss his ex’s jibe, he insisted he was very happy with his life.

He said: “I don’t know if I can describe it. It’s just like I have an inner peace on the golf course. I’m very comfortable in this position and doing what I’m doing right now.”

Woods, meanwhile, suffered an incredible slump that wrecked his three under opening round.

The three-times Open champion needed to hole an eight-foot birdie putt to scrape under the cut line on two over.